Excising islands 'will make it easier to catch people smugglers'

August 7 2002By Kerry TaylorCanberra

Removing more than 3000 islands from the Australian migration zone could drive boats carrying asylum seekers closer to the mainland where it would be easier to catch people smugglers, a Senate inquiry has been told. Acting Immigration Secretary Edward Killestyn yesterday told a Senate committee the excision would make it easier to catch smugglers.

"It is a simple matter of geography that if you remove the outlying islands from the capacity of a smuggler to simply drop off their cargo, they're forced to look for other routes," he said.

"Other routes will invariably bring them closer to Australia and therefore the opportunities for some sort of interdiction and deterrents and capture is increased." The Senate inquiry is examining government plans to legislate and excise more than 3000 islands from the migration zone, in an attempt to deter people smugglers travelling along different routes.

The opposition claims the move would drive people smugglers to the mainland. Labor immigration spokeswoman Julia Gillard yesterday said Mr Killestyn's evidence proved this. "These statements from senior bureaucrats show that aiming for the mainland is not just an effect of the bill, it is the intent," she said.